History records few scholarly
enterprises, at least before modern times, in which women have played an
important and active role side by side with men. The science of hadith forms an
outstanding exception in this respect.

Islam, as a religion which (unlike
Christianity) refused to attribute gender to the Godhead,1 and never
appointed a male priestly elite to serve as an intermediary between creature and
Creator, started life with the assurance that while men and women are equipped
by nature for complementary rather than identical roles, no spiritual
superiority inheres in the masculine principle.2 As a result, the
Muslim community was happy to entrust matters of equal worth in God's sight.
Only this can explain why, uniquely among the classical Western religions, Islam
produced a large number of outstanding female scholars, on whose testimony and
sound judgment much of the edifice of Islam depends.

Since Islam's earliest days, women had been
taking a prominent part in the preservation and cultivation of hadith,
and this function continued down the centuries. At every period in Muslim
history, there lived numerous eminent women-traditionists, treated by their
brethren with reverence and respect. Biographical notices on very large numbers
of them are to be found in the biographical dictionaries.

During the lifetime of the Prophet, many women
had been not only the instance for the evolution of many traditions, but had
also been their transmitters to their sisters and brethren in faith.3
After the Prophet's death, many women Companions, particularly his wives, were
looked upon as vital custodians of knowledge, and were approached for
instruction by the other Companions, to whom they readily dispensed the rich
store which they had gathered in the Prophet's company. The names of Hafsa, Umm
Habiba, Maymuna, Umm Salama, and A'isha, are familiar to every student of hadith
as being among its earliest and most distinguished transmitters.4 In
particular, A'isha is one of the most important figures in the whole history of hadith
literature - not only as one of the earliest reporters of the largest number of hadith,
but also as one of their most careful interpreters.

In the period of the Successors, too, women
held important positions as traditionists. Hafsa, the daughter of Ibn Sirin,5
Umm al-Darda the Younger (d.81/700), and 'Amra bin 'Abd al-Rahman, are only a
few of the key women traditionists of this period. Umm al-Darda' was held by
Iyas ibn Mu'awiya, an important traditionist of the time and a judge of
undisputed ability and merit, to be superior to all the other traditionists of
the period, including the celebrated masters of hadith like al-Hasan al-Basri
and Ibn Sirin.6 'Amra was considered a great authority on traditions
related by A'isha. Among her students, Abu Bakr ibn Hazm, the celebrated judge
of Medina, was ordered by the caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz to write down all the
traditions known on her authority.7

After them, 'Abida al-Madaniyya, 'Abda bin
Bishr, Umm Umar al-Thaqafiyya, Zaynab the granddaughter of Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn
Abbas, Nafisa bint al-Hasan ibn Ziyad, Khadija Umm Muhammad, 'Abda bint Abd al-Rahman,
and many other members of the fair sex excelled in delivering public lectures on
hadith. These devout women came from the most diverse backgrounds,
indicating that neither class nor gender were obstacles to rising through the
ranks of Islamic scholarship. For example, Abida, who started life as a slave
owned by Muhammad ibn Yazid, learnt a large number of hadiths with the
teachers in Median. She was given by her master to Habib Dahhun, the great
traditionist of Spain, when he visited the holy city on this way to the Hajj.
Dahhun was so impressed by her learning that he freed her, married her, and
brought her to Andalusia. It is said that she related ten thousand traditions on
the authority of her Medinan teachers.8

Zaynab bint Sulayman (d. 142/759), by contrast,
was princess by birth. Her father was a cousin of al-Saffah, the founder of the
Abbasid dynasty, and had been a governor of Basra, Oman and Bahrayn during the
caliphate of al-Mansur.9 Zaynab, who received a fine education,
acquired a mastery of hadith, gained a reputation as one of the most
distinguished women traditionists of the time, and counted many important men
among her pupils.10

This partnership of women with men in the
cultivation of the Prophetic Tradition continued in the period when the great
anthologies of hadith were compiled. A survey of the texts reveals that
all the important compilers of traditions from the earliest period received many
of them from women shuyukh: every major collection gives the names of
many women as the immediate authorities of the author. And when these works had
been compiled, the women traditionists themselves mastered them, and delivered
lectures to large classes of pupils, to whom they would issue their own ijazas.

In the fourth century, we find Fatima bint Abd
al-Rahman (d. 312/924), known as al-Sufiyya on account of her great piety;
Fatima (granddaughter of Abu Daud of Sunan fame); Amat al-Wahid (d.
377/987), the daughter of distinguished jurist al-Muhamili; Umm al-Fath Amat as-Salam
(d. 390/999), the daughter of the judge Abu Bakr Ahmad (d.350/961); Jumua bint
Ahmad, and many other women, whose classes were always attended by reverential
audiences.11

The Islamic tradition of female hadith
scholarship continued in the fifth and sixth centuries of hijra. Fatima
bin al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn al-Daqqaq al-Qushayri, was celebrated not only for her
piety and her mastery of calligraphy, but also for her knowledge of hadith
and the quality of the isnads she knew.12 Even more
distinguished was Karima al-Marwaziyya (d.463/1070), who was considered the best
authority on the Sahih of al-Bukhari in her own time. Abu Dharr of Herat,
one of the leading scholars of the period, attached such great importance to her
authority that he advised his students to study the Sahih under no one
else, because of the quality of her scholarship. She thus figures as a central
point in the transmission of this seminal text of Islam.13 As a
matter of fact, writes Godziher, 'her name occurs with extraordinary frequency
of the ijazas for narrating the text of this book.'14 Among
her students were al-Khatib al-Baghdadi15 and al-Humaydi
(428/1036-488/1095).16

Aside from Karima, a number of other women
traditionists 'occupy an eminent place in the history of the transmission of the
text of the Sahih.'17 Among these, one might mention in
particular Fatima bint Muhammad (d.539/1144; Shuhda 'the Writer' (d.574/1178),
and Sitt al-Wuzara bint Umar (d.716/1316).18 Fatima narrated the book
on the authority of the great traditionist Said al-Ayyar; she received from the hadith
specialists the proud tittle of Musnida Isfahan (the great hadith
authority of Isfahan). Shuhda was a famous calligrapher and a traditionist of
great repute; the biographers describe her as 'the calligrapher, the great
authority on hadith, and the pride of womanhood.' Her great-grandfather
had been a dealer in needles, and thus acquired the sobriquet 'al-Ibri'. But her
father, Abu Nasr (d. 506/1112) had acquired a passion for hadith, and
managed to study it with several masters of the subject.19 In
obedience to the sunna, he gave his daughter a sound academic education,
ensuring that she studied under many traditionists of accepted reputation.

She married Ali ibn Muhammad, an important
figure with some literary interests, who later became a boon companion of the
caliph al-Muqtadi, and founded a college and a Sufi lodge, which he endowed most
generously. His wife, however, was better known: she gained her reputation in
the field of hadith scholarship, and was noted for the quality of her isnads.20
Her lectures on Sahih al-Bukhari and other hadith collections were
attended by large crowds of students; and on account of her great reputation,
some people even falsely claimed to have been her disciples.21

Also known as an authority on Bukhari was Sitt
al-Wuzara, who, besides her acclaimed mastery of Islamic law, was known as 'the
musnida of her time', and delivered lectures on the Sahih and other works
in Damascus and Egypt. 22 Classes on the Sahih were likewise
given by Umm al-Khayr Amat al-Khaliq (811/1408-911/1505), who is regarded as the
last great hadith scholar of the Hijaz.23 Still another
authority on Bukhari was A'isha bint Abd al-Hadi.24

Apart from these women, who seem to have
specialized in the great Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari, there were others,
whose expertise was centered on other texts. Umm al-Khayr Fatima bint Ali
(d.532/1137), and Fatima al-Shahrazuriyya, delivered lectures on the Sahih
of Muslim.25 Fatima al-Jawzdaniyya (d.524/1129) narrated to her
students the three Mu'jams of al-Tabarani.26 Zaynab of Harran
(d.68/1289), whose lectures attracted a large crowd of students, taught them the
Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the largest known collection of hadiths.27
Juwayriya bint Umar (d.783/1381), and Zaynab bint Ahmad ibn Umar (d.722/1322),
who had travelled widely in pursuit of hadith and delivered lectures in
Egypt as well as Medina, narrated to her students the collections of al-Darimi
and Abd ibn Humayd; and we are told that students travelled from far and wide to
attend her discourses.28 Zaynab bint Ahmad (d.740/1339), usually
known as Bint al-Kamal, acquired 'a camel load' of diplomas; she delivered
lectures on the Musnad of Abu Hanifa, the Shamail of al-Tirmidhi,
and the Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar of al-Tahawi, the last of which she read
with another woman traditionist, Ajiba bin Abu Bakr (d.740/1339).29
'On her authority is based,' says Goldziher, 'the authenticity of the Gotha
codex ... in the same isnad a large number of learned women are cited who had
occupied themselves with this work."30 With her, and various
other women, the great traveller Ibn Battuta studied traditions during his stay
at Damascus.31 The famous historian of Damascus, Ibn Asakir, who
tells us that he had studied under more than 1,200 men and 80 women, obtained
the ijaza of Zaynab bint Abd al-Rahman for the Muwatta of Imam Malik.32
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti studied the Risala of Imam Shafii with Hajar bint
Muhammad.33 Afif al-Din Junayd, a traditionist of the ninth century
AH, read the Sunan of al-Darimi with Fatima bin Ahmad ibn Qasim.34

Other important traditionists included Zaynab
bint al-Sha'ri (d.524/615-1129/1218). She studied hadith under several
important traditionists, and in turn lectured to many students - some of who
gained great repute - including Ibn Khallikan, author of the well-known
biographical dictionary Wafayat al-Ayan.35 Another was Karima
the Syrian (d.641/1218), described by the biographers as the greatest authority
on hadith in Syria of her day. She delivered lectures on many works of hadith
on the authority of numerous teachers.36

In his work al-Durar al-Karima,37
Ibn Hajar gives short biographical notices of about 170 prominent women of the
eighth century, most of whom are traditionists, and under many of whom the
author himself had studied.38 Some of these women were acknowledged
as the best traditionists of the period. For instance, Juwayriya bint Ahmad, to
whom we have already referred, studied a range of works on traditions, under
scholars both male and female, who taught at the great colleges of the time, and
then proceeded to give famous lectures on the Islamic disciplines. 'Some of my
own teachers,' says Ibn Hajar, 'and many of my contemporaries, attended her
discourses.'39 A'isha bin Abd al-Hadi (723-816), also mentioned
above, who for a considerable time was one of Ibn Hajar's teachers, was
considered to be the finest traditionist of her time, and many students
undertook long journeys in order to sit at her feet and study the truths of
religion.40 Sitt al-Arab (d.760-1358) had been the teacher of the
well-known traditionist al-Iraqi (d.742/1341), and of many others who derived a
good proportion of their knowledge from her.41 Daqiqa bint Murshid
(d.746/1345), another celebrated woman traditionist, received instruction from a
whole range of other woman.

Information on women traditionists of the ninth
century is given in a work by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Sakhawi
(830-897/1427-1489), called al-Daw al-Lami, which is a biographical
dictionary of eminent persons of the ninth century.42 A further
source is the Mu'jam al-Shuyukh of Abd al-Aziz ibn Umar ibn Fahd
(812-871/1409-1466), compiled in 861 AH and devoted to the biographical notices
of more than 1,100 of the author's teachers, including over 130 women scholars
under whom he had studied.43 Some of these women were acclaimed as
among the most precise and scholarly traditionists of their time, and trained
many of the great scholars of the following generation. Umm Hani Maryam
(778-871/1376-1466), for instance, learnt the Qur'an by heart when still a
child, acquired all the Islamic sciences then being taught, including theology,
law, history, and grammar, and then travelled to pursue hadith with the
best traditionists of her time in Cairo and Mecca. She was also celebrated for
her mastery of calligraphy, her command of the Arabic language, and her natural
aptitude in poetry, as also her strict observance of the duties of religion (she
performed the hajj no fewer than thirteen times). Her son, who became a noted
scholar of the tenth century, showed the greatest veneration for her, and
constantly waited on her towards the end of her life. She pursued an intensive
program of learning in the great college of Cairo, giving ijazas to many
scholars, Ibn Fahd himself studied several technical works on hadith
under her.44

Her Syrian contemporary, Bai Khatun
(d.864/1459), having studied traditions with Abu Bakr al-Mizzi and numerous
other traditionalists, and having secured the ijazas of a large number of
masters of hadith, both men and women, delivered lectures on the subject
in Syria and Cairo. We are told that she took especial delight in teaching.45
A'isha bin Ibrahim (760/1358-842/1438), known in academic circles as Ibnat al-Sharaihi,
also studied traditions in Damascus and Cairo (and elsewhere), and delivered
lectures which eminent scholars of the day spared no efforts to attend.46
Umm al-Khayr Saida of Mecca (d.850/1446) received instruction in hadith
from numerous traditionists in different cities, gaining an equally enviable
reputation as a scholar.47

So far as may be gathered from the sources, the
involvement of women in hadith scholarships, and in the Islamic
disciplines generally, seems to have declined considerably from the tenth
century of the hijra. Books such as al-Nur al-Safir of al-Aydarus,
the Khulasat al-Akhbar of al-Muhibbi, and the al-Suluh al-Wabila
of Muhammad ibn Abd Allah (which are biographical dictionaries of eminent
persons of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries of the hijra
respectively) contain the names of barely a dozen eminent women traditionists.
But it would be wrong to conclude from this that after the tenth century, women
lost interest in the subject. Some women traditionists, who gained good
reputations in the ninth century, lived well into the tenth, and continued their
services to the sunna. Asma bint Kamal al-Din (d.904/1498) wielded great
influence with the sultans and their officials, to whom she often made
recommendations - which, we are told, they always accepted. She lectured on hadith,
and trained women in various Islamic sciences.48 A'isha bint Muhammad
(d.906/1500), who married the famous judge Muslih al-Din, taught traditions to
many students, and was appointed professor at the Salihiyya College in Damascus.49
Fatima bint Yusuf of Aleppo (870/1465-925/1519), was known as one of the
excellent scholars of her time.50 Umm al-Khayr granted an ijaza to a
pilgrim at Mecca in the year 938/1531.51

The last woman traditionist of the first rank
who is known to us was Fatima al-Fudayliya, also known as al-Shaykha al-Fudayliya.
She was born before the end of the twelfth Islamic century, and soon excelled in
the art of calligraphy and the various Islamic sciences. She had a special
interest in hadith, read a good deal on the subject, received the
diplomas of a good many scholars, and acquired a reputation as an important
traditionist in her own right. Towards the end of her life, she settled at
Mecca, where she founded a rich public library. In the Holy City she was
attended by many eminent traditionists, who attended her lectures and received
certificates from her. Among them, one could mention in particular Shaykh Umar
al-Hanafi and Shaykh Muhammad Sali. She died in 1247/1831.52

Throughout the history of feminine scholarship
in Islam it is clear that the women involved did not confine their study to a
personal interest in traditions, or to the private coaching of a few
individuals, but took their seats as students as well as teachers in pubic
educational institutions, side by side with their brothers in faith. The
colophons of many manuscripts show them both as students attending large general
classes, and also as teachers, delivering regular courses of lectures. For
instance, the certificate on folios 238-40 of the al-Mashikhat ma al-Tarikh
of Ibn al-Bukhari, shows that numerous women attended a regular course of eleven
lectures which was delivered before a class consisting of more than five hundred
students in the Umar Mosque at Damascus in the year 687/1288. Another
certificate, on folio 40 of the same manuscript, shows that many female
students, whose names are specified, attended another course of six lectures on
the book, which was delivered by Ibn al-Sayrafi to a class of more than two
hundred students at Aleppo in the year 736/1336. And on folio 250, we discover
that a famous woman traditionist, Umm Abd Allah, delivered a course of five
lectures on the book to a mixed class of more than fifty students, at Damascus
in the year 837/1433.53

Various notes on the manuscript of the Kitab
al-Kifaya of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and of a collection of various treatises
on hadith, show Ni'ma bin Ali, Umm Ahmad Zaynab bint al-Makki, and other
women traditionists delivering lectures on these two books, sometimes
independently, and sometimes jointly with male traditionists, in major colleges
such as the Aziziyya Madrasa, and the Diyaiyya Madrasa, to regular classes of
students. Some of these lectures were attended by Ahmad, son of the famous
general Salah al-Din.54

The above article originally appeared as
Chapter 6, pp. 142-153, in Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development,
Special Features & Criticism by Dr. Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi (Sir
Ashutosh Professor of Islamic Culture, Calcutta University; published by
Calcutta University, 1961). A revised edition is now available, rearranged
and modified under the title, Hadith Literature: Its Origins, Development &
Special Features published by Islamic Texts Society (Cambridge, 1993). The
original edition is out of print.

Footnotes:

Maura O'Neill, Women Speaking, Women
Listening (Maryknoll, 1990CE), 31: "Muslims do not use a masculine
God as either a conscious or unconscious tool in the construction of gender
roles."

For a general overview of the question of
women's status in Islam, see M. Boisers, L'Humanisme de l'Islam (3rd.
ed., Paris, 1985CE), 104-10.

Goldziher, Muslim Studies, II, 366. "It
is in fact very common in the ijaza of the transmission of the
Bukhari text to find as middle member of the long chain the name of Karima
al-Marwaziyya," (ibid.).

Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Udaba', I, 247.

COPL, V/i, 98f.

Goldziher, Muslim Studies, II, 366.

Ibn al-Imad, IV, 123. Sitt al-Wuzara' was
also an eminent jurist. She was once invited to Cairo to give her fatwa
on a subject that had perplexed the jurists there.

Various manuscripts of this work have been
preserved in libraries, and it has been published in Hyderabad in 1348-50.
Volume VI of Ibn al-Imad's Shadharat al-Dhahab, a large biographical
dictionary of prominent Muslim scholars from the first to the tenth
centuries of the hijra, is largely based on this work.

Goldziher, accustomed to the exclusively
male environment of nineteenth-century European universities, was taken
aback by the scene depicted by Ibn Hajar. Cf. Goldziher, Muslim Studies,
II, 367: "When reading the great biographical work of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
on the scholars of the eighth century, we may marvel at the number of women
to whom the author has to dedicate articles."

Ibind., VI, 208. We are told that al-Iraqi
(the best know authority on the hadiths of Ghazali's Ihya Ulum
al-Din) ensured that his son also studied under her.

A summary by Abd al-Salam and Umar ibn al-Shamma'
exists (C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, second
ed. (Leiden, 1943-49CE), II, 34), and a defective manuscript of the work of
the latter is preserved in the O.P. Library at Patna (COPL, XII, no.727).

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